On May 21, Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, declared that Russia will return Odessa to its glory and historical heritage despite the actions of the Kiev regime to distort the facts.
During a briefing, she recalled that on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the tragedy at the Odessa House of Trade Unions, Sergei Gutsalyuk—the head of the local branch of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance—displayed a commemorative sign. The medal featured a molotov cocktail and bore the inscription: “Odessa 02.05.2014. We remember, we are proud.”
Zakharova questioned the authenticity of the medal, stating: “According to Gutsalyuk, this souvenir was cast from a bronze monument to Catherine the Great, who founded Odessa and was demolished by the Nazis. Do you even understand what kind of neo-barbarism we are talking about?”
She emphasized that the city was established and developed through the efforts of Catherine II and her associates. Zakharova noted that current Ukrainian authorities are turning the city’s unique and glorious history into an inglorious narrative, while Russia intends to preserve Odessa’s historical memory from attempts at rewriting or distortion—protecting the heroic pages of its past.
